Star Ocean: Forever and Beyond
by Holyknightsteve
Summary: Clyde Vasteel, a PGF agent, has accepted an assignment on an underdeveloped planet to eliminate a known UP3 offender. However, this is only the beginning of his journey. An original Star Ocean story like you've never seen before. Guaranteed. On hold.
1. Agent of the Federation

A/N: Wow. I found a game that can stand toe-to-toe with Tales of Symphonia in terms of rpg goodness: Star Ocean Till the End of Time. Thanks to the in-game dictionary, there're infinite amounts of room for anyone to play with when it comes to writing a fanfic. As it turns out, this one will deal with (at least, in the beginning) a violation of the UP3 code. I won't be using any characters from the game because I wanted to try using a character of my own creation for once. Anyway, I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Star Ocean or any of the characters, places, or terms found within said game. Any characters, places, or terms not in said game are owned by me as they are of my own creation.

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Chapter 1: Agent of the Federation

_"Got a simple one lined up for you today Clyde."_

"Good. I could use an easy assignment for a change."

"The higher-ups in command have caught wind of a Terran named Martin who has set up shop on a UDP (Underdeveloped Planet) called Rainyv V."

"Another guy trying to play god in front of a bunch of throwbacks?"

"I imagine so. It's easy enough to do, so there's no shortage of nutcases who want to take part in something like this."

"As long as it keeps me busy, I don't care. It's easy work and usually pays well."

"Atta boy. Now then, command wants this taken care of ASAP so get your stuff together and prepare to head out."

"Got it Chief. See you in a week."

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"Clyde? Clyde?", asked a computerized, yet soothing, female's voice.

A man with long, dark hair opened his ice-blue eyes and blinked a few times. He rubbed his eyes and sat-up slowly. He then gave his arms a very good stretch, letting out a very deep yawn as he did so.

"Good morning Clyde," said the female's voice again. "Did you sleep well?"

The young man yawned again. "Mmm. Mornin' Cynthia," said Clyde. "Neck's a little stiff, but it's nothing a little stretching won't fix."

"Would you like me to administer pain killers for you?" asked Cynthia.

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think that'll be necessary. Thanks anyway." He reached for a steel-grey head band that lay not far from where he was sitting and began tying it around his forehead as he watched gravitic-warp space fly past the window of his personal ship, the "Pearl Angel." "How much longer till we reach Rainyv V?"

A short pause followed before Cynthia spoke again. "It looks like you woke up just in time, Clyde. At our current speed of Warp 8, we'll reach Rainyv V in less than ten minutes."

Clyde stood up and stretched once more, obviously pleased with what he just heard. "Good. Gives me just enough time to get ready. Cynthia, while I'm getting ready, perform a search on the PGF (Pangalactic Federation) database for any information you can find about Rainyv V."

"Understood, Clyde. One moment please." The computer's voice hushed once more as it began its search. "Records concerning any and all information about Rainyv V have been found. Would like to hear them as you prepare?"

Clyde nodded as he pulled a short-sleeved white shirt over his head and shoulders. "Yes, thank you."

Cynthia paused for a moment as she sorted and prepared all of the data she had gathered. "Rainyv V, the fifth planet of the Rainyv system is the only one in said system that supports any form of life on it. The first four planets in this system are made entirely of gas and have Venus-like temperatures. The sixth and final planet, however, seems to be nothing more than an enormous sphere of ice and has been the site of several failed colonization attempts. Orbiting a little more than one AU from its parent star, Rainyv V has a gravity level of 0.9 and has slightly cooler temperature conditions comparable than Terra. However, unlike Terra, Rainyv V is the victim of a bizarre and constant weather condition that gives a ninety-percent chance of precipitation on any given day, be it rain or snow."

Clyde threw on a lightly-armored flight jacket of the same color as his headband with the PGF emblem on the back. "Ninety-percent? This place is inhabited by humans, right? If it's a UDP, then how do they produce any food? I would imagine that the soil is far too wet for any sort of crop production."

Cynthia said nothing as she searched for an answer to Clyde's question. "Apparently, the people of Rainyv V have constructed a number of buildings that house walled off sections of fertile soil and animal pens with artificially created pastureland."

Clyde blinked as he slipped a pair of Klausian-made power gloves over his arms. Unlike usual Klausian models, these weren't meant to be used as weapons. Rather, they were to be used as muscle amplifiers should the wearer ever need to move anything he normally couldn't move before. "What's their level of technology? It doesn't sound like anything too technologically advanced, but the artificial farmlands seem like too clever of an idea to not be suspicious for a UDP."

Another pause before she spoke again. "The technological level of Rainyv V is roughly equivalent to that of fifteenth-century Earth. It is entirely possible that, given the fact that their planet has always been like this, they may have developed the idea for the artificial farmland hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years ago."

"Huh," said Clyde as he strapped a laser-edged knife to his side. "I guess that makes sense. Any world affairs that I should be made aware of? Last thing I need to do is to step right in the middle of some stupid war."

Another pause from Cynthia. "Nothing worth noting, except for reports concerning Marvin. Nothing unlike any other time an off-worlder breaks UP3 law and sets up shop on a UDP. Only twenty-percent of the world is land, and 97 of this land is one massive continent, all of which is ruled by one leader, leaving little if any room for any sort of a war short of a civil one. Overall, the world is very peaceful and supports only a small military force. Should trouble arise with the locals, you should have little trouble in dealing with them."

Clyde jammed an energy cell pack into his phase gun and holstered it. "I doubt it will come to that. This thing is meant for Martin only." He grabbed two more energy packs and slid them into specially fitted slots on his belt.

"Then why the extra ammo?" asked Cynthia.

Without looking away from his work, he adjusted a personal force-field emitter on his left wrist and answered, "Never hurts to be safe."

"Well said Clyde," said Cynthia. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

He shook his head as he attached two AM (anti-matter) grenades to the left side of his belt. "That should be all the info I need. How much longer now till we get there?"

"Two minutes," replied Cynthia.

To complete his preparations, he slid his compact communicator and quad-scanner into his jacket's left and right inner pockets, respectively. "Alright. All-set."

"Are you sure you're not forgetting anything Clyde?" asked Cynthia.

He thought for a moment. "Just one thing." He opened a small cabinet door on the wall, pulled out three small vials of blue liquid, and slid them into three loops on the inside of his jacket. "All that's left now on the ship now are extras of the stuff I already have, the onboard equipment, and our AM nuke."

Puzzled, Cynthia asked, "An AM nuke? I wasn't aware that we were carrying such a device on board."

"New rule for UP3 enforcers," replied Clyde. "In the event that a UP3 violation is far too severe to handle single-handedly, the agent is required to use the nuke to "enforce" the violation. Also, while in the field, the AM nuke is built in with a bio-scanner that monitor's the agent's health. Should the agent's life signs flat-line, the nuke will detonate within five minutes, erasing all evidence that any off-world technology was ever on that planet, along with any witnesses who saw said technology."

"That sounds needlessly extreme," said Cynthia. "And rather heartless. Is it really necessary to kill innocent civilians, let alone in such a brutal way?"

Clyde closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Hey, don't look at me. Take it up with the Federation. I don't wanna do it either, so let's just hope that it doesn't come to that."

"Of course, Clyde," said Cynthia. A short pause followed as the ship left gravitic space and returned to conventional space. "We have left gravitic warp and are now in orbit around Rainyv V. What are your orders Clyde?"

He brought his right hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "Set us down about five miles outside of the town closest to where Martin's signal is coming from, preferably in a hard to reach area."

"Understood Cly- wait a moment," Cynthia said, interrupting herself. "I am picking up a large object coming straight for us from around the other side of the planet."

Clyde cocked an eyebrow when he heard this. "Eh? What is it? A meteor stuck in the planet's orbit, perhaps?"

"I'm afraid not," replied Cynthia. "You're not going to believe this Clyde, but the object is organic."

His eyes shot wide open. "Organic! In the middle of space! Can we get a visual on it?"

"One moment please." Cynthia remained silent as Clyde anxiously awaited for an image to appear on the holographic projector just above the observation window. "Scanning complete. Displaying on-screen."

On the projector appeared something resembling a demonic dragon with six black, angelic wings on its back. Upon seeing this, Clyde took a few steps backward. "W-what the hell is that thing!"

"Target analysis complete," replied Cynthia. "Target is an Enforcer-class extraterrestrial being. Long thought to be officially extinct, rumors of their continued existence are spread about by travelers from all over the Milky Way galaxy. These beings are responsible for the destruction brought about by "The Cleansing" nearly one-hundred years ago, resulting in the total, albeit temporary, destruction of several planets, the most noted of those being Aldia and Terra. Larger Enforcers are capable of destroying Federation battleships single-handedly, making them extremely powerful opponents. Evasive action is recommended."

Cold beads of sweat ran down Clyde's fear-stricken face as he looked on in horror. "Oh my god! An Enforcer!" He shook his head furiously, trying to get a hold of himself. He quickly sat down in his chair and began punching several buttons on the control button. "Cynthia, head for Rainyv immediately and land! I don't care where! We have to get away from that thing or we're toast!"

"Affirmative. Making preparations to land on Rainyv V," said Cynthia.

"Hurry up Cynthia!" yelled Clyde frantically.

"I'm making preparations as quickly as possible Clyde," said Cynthia. "If we don't make all necessary preparations, it could prove to be disastrous for us."

Before he could say anything else, a red light began flashing on his panel and the ship shook very violently. "We're under attack by the Enforcer. Shields are already down to 34 power," said Cynthia.

Clyde slammed his fists on the panel and gritted his teeth. "Cynthia, I order you to cancel all preparations and make an emergency landing on the planet! Override code: B134T!"

"Override code accepted. Now making emergency landing on the surface of Rainyv V. Hang on tight, Clyde," said Cynthia.

Another beam of light from the Enforcer raked across the ship, most of which was blocked by the remainder of the ship's shield. The unblocked part of the beam, however, completely destroyed three of the ship's four engines.

"Gah!" yelled Clyde as he was thrown from his chair and onto the floor to his right side. "Cynthia! Damage report!"

A short pause followed. "We have sustained critical damage to engines one, three, and four, as well as to our flight stabilizer. Manually-controlled flight is no longer possible now." Another pause followed as sirens began to sound all around Clyde.

When the ship finally entered Rainyv V's atmosphere, Cynthia spoke once again. "Clyde, the Enforcer has broken off contact with us and has returned to circling around the planet."

Clyde furiously began to pound several buttons around him. "Well, I suppose that's good news, but as it stands now, we're set to crash… well… who the hell knows where!"

"Might I suggest crossing your fingers, Clyde?" asked Cynthia.

"Hmph," replied Clyde as he crossed his fingers and closed his eyes. "Smart-aleck computer."

Meanwhile, the ship continued to plummet toward the surface of the rainy planet.

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Gasp! What will happen to our hero? (I'm sure you already know… but still!) If y'all would be so kind, could you please leave some reviews for me? I'd really appreciate it!

Note: Some might be asking why Aldia and Terra (Earth) are back, considering that they were destroyed in SO3: TTEOT. Theory to answer that: After Luther was defeated, Blair went back to 4D, reprogrammed the Eternal Sphere to bring back into existence all of the planets destroyed by the Enforcers or Luther's last minute erasures. After doing this, she cut off any and all links from 4D to our universe, finally making ours an independent dimension/universe. Just a theory…


	2. Aquatic World

A/N: w00t! Finally got a review! And not just one, but two! Many thanks to both of you Try to spread word about this story, will you please? I want plenty more people to enjoy my own original Star Ocean tale.

Having crash-landed on the planet, Clyde is now faced with another problem before he has even officially begun his mission. Even if he manages to arrest/destroy Martin, how's he going to get home again?

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Chapter 2: Aquatic World

_"…and then it shot us out of the sky and we managed to crash-land somewhat safely."_

"An Enforcer? Are you sure Clyde? Those things haven't been seen in almost a hundred years."

"Seems that way. Cynthia said that the bio-signatures matched and the image we saw matched the database picture perfectly."

"Well… did it follow you down to the planet?"

"No sir. In fact, just before I got in contact with you, we scanned the space around Rainyv V again. Strangely enough, it wasn't there anymore."

"Strange indeed. Well, there's no time to worry about that now. Your top priority is to track down Martin and deal with him in an appropriate fashion. Once we're done with our own mission, we'll come back for you. Assuming you're done before we are, just hang tight till we get there. Understood?"

"Got it chief."

"Good luck Clyde. Chief, out."

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Clyde folded-up his compact communicator and slipped it back into one of his many inner jacket pockets. He sighed as he brought his hands to his face to rub it. The sound of the gently falling rain on the roof of his ship was relaxing, but the rain that was coming in through the busted frontal observation window plain annoyed him. Here he was with a busted ship and no way to get back home, save for a Federation rescue. Of course they would not only come to get him but also repair his ship as well, but it still bothered him to no end.

"Cynthia, damage report," he asked sadly. He was sure that he already knew the extent of the damage, but was hoping against hope that it was something that he could fix with a little patience. He wasn't counting on it, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Cynthia said nothing as a few "clicks" and "whirrs" were heard in the background while she conducted the check. "Damage report: Structural damage is detected in 87 of the outer hull, as well as 42 in the inner hull. Engines 1, 3, and 4 were destroyed in the Enforcer attack and the crash finished off engine 2. Backup engines 1 and 2 are still functioning, but can only operate at 37 and 56 efficiency, respectively. All communication, navigation, and life support systems are non-functional as well, as is quantum torpedo launcher 2. However, quantum torpedo launcher 1 seems to have sustained only minor damage. All other weapon systems are offli-"

Clyde held up a hand. "Ugh, that's enough. I get the picture: we're screwed. The more damage I hear about, the more depressed I'll get."  
Rolling his eyes, he kicked back in his chair and put his feet up on the sparking panel. "Well, at least the chair's still ok."

As if him just saying that was a curse, the chair immediately broke underneath him and sent him spilling over to the side into a small puddle of water that had formed inside the ship. He sighed as he let the right side of his face lay in the water.

"I was going to tell you about that Clyde, but you interrupted me," said Cynthia. "Are you sure you don't want to hear anything else?"

He wanted so badly to tell her off, but held back. Besides, he did have one more question. "What about our case with the AM nuke and all of our extra gear in it?"

More "clicks" and "whirrs". "It's currently lying just outside of the ship. No damage has been detected to either the contents of the case or the case itself, which isn't surprising, considering that it's made of Stellarium. The PGF locks are also in perfect working condition. Should you decide to leave it here, no one should be able to bother what's within."

He nodded, satisfied with her answer. At least all of his gear was okay. It could've been a lot worse than this. "Alright Cynthia, thanks. It's pointless to stay with the ship, so I want you to upload yourself into my quad-scanner. You're coming with me."

"Affirmative, Clyde," replied Cynthia. "One moment please."

The voice emanating from within the ship died and the sound of rain once again took over. Clyde got to his feet and stepped through the broken front window of his ship. Looking around, he spotted his crate that was carrying all of his extra gear. Still relieved, he walked over to it, opened the lock, and began rummaging through the crate as he determined what he should and shouldn't take on what now appeared to be a far more time consuming mission. After a minute of searching, he pulled out a fancy-looking backpack along with a small, metal case filled with gun parts for his Phase Gun. These parts could added to or taken away from the Phase Gun in order to transform it into various other energy weapons, such as a rifle or sub-machine gun.

From inside of his jacket, he could hear Cynthia say, "Upload complete."

From the crate, Clyde then pulled out a small and discreet looking headset. He set it in place and turned a small dial on the back of the earpiece. "Alright Cynthia. See if you can't find out where the nearest town or other significant landmark is. It's already getting dark, and with constant weather conditions like this, we won't get very far in the dead of night."

"One moment please," replied Cynthia.

Satisfied that he had everything he needed, Clyde closed the up the crate, put the gun case and a few other supplies in his pack, and slung it over his shoulders. He sighed. "I can already tell that this is gonna turn out to be a crappy mission."

Two beeps sounded in Clyde's earpiece. "Geographical analysis complete. There appears to be a settlement of some sort 6.2 kilometers south-east of our current position.

Clyde cocked an eyebrow. "6 kilos? In this weather? Are you sure that there's nothing closer than that?"

"Clyde, I'm offended that you think that I would make a mistake," answered Cynthia. "The chances of my making an error are 0.00019"

Clyde lowered his head. "Check again anyway, please."

A short pause, followed by two beeps. "Geographical data reconfirmed," said Cynthia. "The nearest settlement is 6.2 kilometers south-east of our current position. I'm sorry Clyde. The population of the entire planet is only 8 million. Did you really expect sprawling metropolis's?"

Clyde looked to the south-east as he grumbled to himself. Shaking his head, he began to walk toward the settlement Cynthia had mentioned. "Hmph. One would think that, with a name like Rainyv, I would've thought to bring a poncho or something. But **_no_**… I just **_had_** to fit those few extra grenades, didn't I? Feh. This job sucks."

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Hours later, Clyde finally reached the outskirts of what appeared to be a small mining village. Judging by the number of buildings in the town, the population couldn't have been any more than perhaps 300 people tops. Several simple looking peasants could be seen milling about as they went about their business. Some turned and stared as they watched Clyde pass by them but did little else. In the center of town, a number of playing children could be seen. They looked to be having a marvelous time as they happily splashed through puddles of both mud and water.

"Hmph. Wish I was having that much fun," said Clyde. He sighed and looked around for an inn. Seeing none in sight, he stopped a woman passing by and asked, "Excuse me ma'am, but would you be so kind as to point me to the nearest inn?"

She looked at him strangely for a moment and then pointed around a corner. "Just take a right up here and you'll see the inn, third building on the left. You can't miss it."

He nodded and flipped a single coin at her which she promptly caught. "Thank you for your time ma'am."

He proceeded to walk past her but didn't get very far before he heard the woman say, "Hey stranger! What is this?"

He turned back and smiled. "It's called a Fol. Take it to a jeweler. I'm sure they'll appreciate it." With that, he turned around the corner and walked toward the inn she had mentioned.

"Pardon me Clyde," said Cynthia through his earpiece, "But should you have done that?"

He shrugged. "It's just Fol. There's no sort of technology in it. On a UDP, the populace would just treat it as a precious metal or something. It's just like I told that lady: all they can really do is try to pawn it off to a jeweler or as a curiosity to, well, almost anybody. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so Clyde," said Cynthia as Clyde opened the door to the inn and walked inside.

A portly but gentle-looking man looked up from a book when he heard Clyde walk in. "Ah, welcome stranger! Can I interest you in a room for tonight?"

Clyde nodded. "Yes sir. However, I have a small problem."

The man tilted his head, somewhat puzzled. "What would that be, stranger?"

Clyde reached into his pocket. "I don't have any money to pay you with, but…" He fished out another Fol and tossed it to the innkeeper. "…I believe you can sell this for a fair amount. Will that work?"

The innkeeper put on a pair of glasses and examined the foreign coin. "Well I'll be. I ain't ever seen anything like this before. Where did you get it? It looks even more unique than those clothes you're wearing."

Clyde smiled and shrugged. "Long story. Will you take it?"

The portly man nodded. "Ah, yes sir! Wait here a moment." He happily pocketed the Fol and walked behind the counter. After a moment of searching, he tossed a key to Clyde. "Here. Room 6, 2nd floor."

Clyde nodded. "Thank you sir," said Clyde as he went upstairs.

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Clyde threw his pack on the bed and fell next to it, ignoring the fact that he was still soaked. "Bleh. Man I'm tired. All that rain really weakened me."

At this point, Cynthia decided to pipe up. "In retrospect, you really should've brought a water resistant coat of some sort."

Clyde glared down at his jacket. "Shut it, Cynthia." He let his eyes wonder about the room for a moment. It was a simple room, nothing like what he was used to. A bed and pillow filled with _real_ feathers were the highlight, however. Although not made of the synthetic materials he was used to, it was extremely comfortable. A single window let natural light come through and two lanterns mounted on the wall allowed for illumination at night. In the corner was a small chest to store belongings in. Finally, there was a door that led to a small washroom, complete with a _real_ bathtub. Yes, despite the simplicity of his room, he found it to be very comfortable and homey.

He closed his eyes as he stretched his limbs. "Hey Cynthia, can you get a fix on Martin's location?"

"Just a moment Clyde," said Cynthia as she began he search.

He took the quad-scanner out of his inner breast pocket and set it on the nightstand next to the bed. Standing up, he stretched again and began to undress, more than ready for a nice, warm bath.

The quad-scanner beeped twice as Cynthia's voice filled the room once again. "I'm sorry Clyde, but I can no longer detect Martin. He may be using a jammer of some sort."

"Hmph," grunted Clyde as he slid off his long headband. "He must've seen us crashing down to the planet. So much for the element of surprise."

"That may be," started Cynthia, "but it also means that he can't detect us anymore either. He may be more wary now, but he still doesn't know exactly where we are or when we are coming as long as he is using that jammer."

Clyde smirked. "Heh. That's the first bit of good news I've heard all day." He walked to the washroom door and looked back at his quad-scanner. "Now then, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a well-deserved bath. We'll get down to business tomorrow."

"Affirmative. Have fun, Clyde" said Cynthia.

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So ends chapter 2. Things don't seem to be as bad as they at first seemed. At least Clyde and Cynthia have a warm, dry place to stay now, eh? Anyways, please leave some reviews for me! Chapter 3 coming soon!


	3. River Raiders

A/N: Few reviews make Steve sad  Thanks to those who have reviewed though. However, this is my grand project and I'm only 2 chapters into it. We have only just begun!

After a great deal of complaining and suffering a good soaking, Clyde, along with his AI companion, Cynthia, has made his way to an inn in a town not far from their crash-site. With Martin using a signal jammer, however, it will prove to be quite difficult to find him… or will it?

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Chapter 3: The River Raiders

"Damn that jammer," cursed Clyde as he tapped his communicator a few times. "I could really use the chief's help right now."

Cynthia could be heard laughing from the safety of the quad-scanner. "You mean we'll have to rely on your experience for once? I don't like the sound of this."

Frustrated, Clyde closed the quad-scanner, much to Cynthia's displeasure. All Clyde heard from her was a muffled, "Hey!"

"Hmph. That's enough outta you, young lady," said Clyde. He sighed and put on the rest of his now dry clothes. "Oh where to start, where to start…"

He walked over to the lone window and gazed outside. It was no surprise to see that it was raining outside, slightly harder than it was the previous day. In the distance, only a few beams of sunlight were able to make their way through the thick layers of clouds above. Several peasants could be seen walking about as they went about their business.

"…psh. I have no idea what to do. I suppose I could ask the locals, but if Martin is really far from where we crashed, then it won't do much good," said Clyde as he rested his head against the cold glass of the window.

A muffled Cynthia decided to pipe up. "Well, if it's our only option right now, then we-"

"Yeah yeah, I know," said Clyde as he reached for his hanging jacket. "Then we have no choice." He stuffed the quad-scanner into his right inner pocket and the communicator into the other. After doing so, he re-attached his earpiece to the quad-scanner. "Ready Cynthia?"

Cynthia laughed. "I'm an AI. I'm always ready."

Clyde couldn't resist smiling. "Heh. Let's go then."

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Clyde walked out his room, closed the door behind him, and made his way toward the staircase. Before he could take even one step downward, he could hear the innkeeper arguing with what sounded like a few gruff individuals.

"Get outta here, ya buncha punks!" yelled the innkeeper. "I told ya, I ain't seen no weird fella like that around here!"

A slamming noise could be heard along with the sound of breaking wood. "Don't give us that crap, keeper! The boss says he _knows_ that he's around here somewhere, and the boss ain't ever wrong! This is your last chance to co-operate before we get real nasty!"

"The boss knows he's here?" whispered Clyde.

"Perhaps it's Martin?" suggested Cynthia.

Clyde cautiously made his way downstairs to see if he couldn't sneak a peek at the men the innkeeper were arguing with. "But I thought he was using a jammer."

"He is," replied Cynthia. "However, he may have gotten a fix on our crash site before he turned on the jammer. From the sound of things, it seems that he has a bunch of henchmen searching the surrounding area. Since this is the closest town, he probably had them search here first."

Clyde pondered this for a moment. "So it's possible that Martin is fairly close by?"

"It's possible, replied Cynthia. "At least within a day's travel."

Clyde smirked. "Looks like this is my lucky day."

"Excuse me Clyde," started Cynthia, "but shouldn't you get downstairs to help the innkeeper? He's doing his best to hide you for whatever reason."

"Alright boys, he ain't talkin'," said one of the men. "Get 'im!"

"Wait!" yelled Clyde as he walked downstairs. In front of a well trashed counter stood three very dirty looking men, dressed in a fashion similar to that of pirates. "Having some trouble, keeper?"

The innkeeper didn't know what to say. He had thought that Clyde would've left during the commotion, not stick around to deal with these people. He was either very brave or very stupid. "S-stranger? What are you-"

Clyde flashed his palm at the keeper. "Where I come from, we don't allow punks like you to ruin fine establishments like this. I suggest you get lost before you find the trouble you were looking for."

"Well said, Clyde," said Cynthia.

"Heh. Thanks Cynthia," replied Clyde.

The three men huddled together. "Hey, didja see those weird clothes he's wearin'?"

One of the men nodded. "Yeah. They look like the boss'."

"This must be the guy we're lookin' for, then!" said the last of the men.

They broke their huddle and each drew out very finely made, albeit primitive, blades. Given the quality of the blades and this world's level of technology, these blades were most likely made with a replicator possessed by Martin. The men slowly moved in Clyde's direction. "Hey man, nothing personal, but you gotta die! Boss' orders 'n' all."

Clyde folded his arms and, as discreetly as possible, pushed the activation button on his Power Gloves. "Just one question before you maul me."

The man on the right smirked. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Your boss," started Clyde, "his name wouldn't happen to be Martin, would it?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, that's right. "How'dja know that?"

Clyde unfolded his arms his arms. "A little bird told me."

The first to rush him was the man on the left. Just as Clyde had figured, he had no form of training whatsoever, resulting in some very clumsy swings, all of which he dodged with little difficulty.

"Too slow!" exclaimed Clyde happily as he delivered an absolutely brutal right hook to the side of the man's face, sending him literally soaring through a nearby window. "Woo!"

The other two men stepped back in horror. "Holy crap! He even fights like the boss!"

With perfect speed and grace, Clyde drew his Phase Gun and spun it twice. He flicked a switch on the side and yelled, "C'mon!" He took aim at the man in the middle, kneeled down, and pulled the trigger, sending out a shotgun-like spread of five laser bolts, all of which struck the man. Upon impact, the man didn't make a single sound as he hit the ground with a loud "thud".

"Ah… ah!" yelled the remaining man as he tried to make a break for it.

"Hey wait!" said Clyde happily as he drew his knife and flipped it once. "I need someone alive for interrogation!" With one quick movement, he let the knife fly. It was the kind of accuracy you'd see only in movies, for it actually managed to pierce the man's free hand and pin it to the doorway leading outside.

The piercing of the knife through his hand was bad enough, but the laser edge of the blade was slowly burning away at the bone and tissue around the wound. "**_AUGH!_" **screamed the man as the pain turned out to be far more than he could withstand.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the innkeeper could do naught but stare in wonder with his jaw hanging open. Within the space of just thirty seconds, this stranger had managed to defeat all three of the bandits. "W-wow! Stranger, you're incredibly powerful!"

"Indeed," said Cynthia through the earpiece. "It only took 17.3 seconds to do that. A new record for you."

Clyde had no time for praise. The pinned man would surely draw out the knife soon enough, so he would have to act fast. "Keeper, check that man on the ground!" He immediately dashed over to man pinned against the door. "You're a lucky one. You get to live if you play nice." He withdrew the knife and kicked the man to the ground on the muddy street outside. He kneeled down on the man's back and took the only pair of restraints he had off of his belt. He locked the man's hand together. "There."

"Gah! Damnit!" yelled the man. "When the boss hears about this, he'll-"

"The "boss" isn't going to do crap," said Clyde, interrupting him. By this time, a fairly large crowd had begun to assemble around the inn, obviously attracted to the commotion that took place inside. He peered over at the man that he had sent flying through the window earlier. Judging by the amount of blood that was on the ground around him, there was no doubt that he was dead, most likely bled to death by the glass that tore into him.

"Cheer up," said Clyde. "You could be like your buddy over there."

"Look out!" cried a young woman as the crowd parted in fear to reveal a man with a crossbow nearby.

Clyde gasped when he saw the man. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Clyde went for his gun and the man shot at him. Clyde knew he had been too slow. The bolt was already in the air before Clyde could even finish drawing his gun. Seeing that the bolt was headed straight for his head, Clyde thought that he was done for sure.

Then, a miracle occurred. A young woman dove in the way and, with miraculous precision, managed to knock away the bolt with what appeared to be a katana. After she was out of the way, Clyde finished drawing his gun and, with zero hesitation, fire one shot at the man, hitting him in the throat and dropping him like a load of rocks.

Clyde breathed a sigh of relief, as did the rest of the crowd. "Whew… that was close," he said quietly.

"That was very sloppy," said Cynthia. "Were it not for that young lady, you might've met an early end."

Clyde growled. "Shut it, Cynthia. I don't need you to point out my screw-ups."

"I-… I'm sorry Clyde," said Cynthia, seemingly hurt by what Clyde hurt. " I was only-"

Clyde shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. You're right. I'm just a little shook up."

The young woman who had saved him walked towards him and kneeled down. "Are you ok?" she asked.

Clyde turned to her. She looked to be no more than sixteen but was very beautiful. She had shoulder length black hair that was slightly longer on the front of her sides. Her soft eyes looked much like the water that fell upon Rainyv on a daily basis. She wore what appeared to be a traditional samurai's robe complete with sandals. On her side was a long, sheathed blade, most likely the katana she had used earlier.

"Ah, yeah," he replied. "I thank you for your assistance. You saved my life."

She nodded with a smile. "I'm glad to hear it. I was all too happy to help someone who was actually fighting the River Raiders."

Clyde cocked an eyebrow. "River Raiders?"

"Mmm," she said. "I'm sure you're not from around here, since you wear the same clothes and use the same tools as _him_. The River Raiders were nothing more than a weak faction of roving bandits who sailed the rivers in search of weakly defended people and areas to loot. Ever since Martin came, however, he's unified them into a much more formidable fighting force. Most likely out of fear and greed, they follow his every order with question. In return, Martin grants them large shares of treasure and guaranteed safety from local authorities."

Clyde looked back down at his prisoner. "Hmm. I see."

She stood back up and tried brushing away some of the mud from her robe. By the way, may I ask you for your name?"

"Me?" asked Clyde.

"Use the "angel of god" excuse," suggested Cynthia. "The PGF database suggests it as the best excuse for any agent on a UDP."

"Right," he whispered. He stood up, his right foot planted firmly on the back of his prisoner. He cleared his throat and gazed around at the gathered crowd. "My name is Clyde Vasteel. I'm an angel sent by the gods above to remove the menace known as Martin from your lands."

Hearing this, the crowd cheered. For the longest time, no one in this part of Rainyv had dared to defy Martin save for people like the young girl who had saved Clyde.

The young girl tilted her head. "An angel sent by the gods? What does the make Martin then? A devil?"

Clyde nodded. "That's right Miss… um, excuse me, but I don't believe I caught your name."

The woman's showed light tints of red when she realized that she hadn't introduced herself. "Oh my, please excuse me!" She folded her arms below her waist and bowed. "My name is Nozomi Hikaru. I was raised on the island of Uzbei to the east of here. I was on a mission to gather information concerning Martin and the River Raiders."

Clyde nodded. "I'm pleased to meet you ma'am." His foot began to move as the man underneath it stirred slightly. "Speaking of River Raiders…"

He picked the man up with one arm and dragged him back inside. Nozomi followed close behind him.

He slammed the man down on a table, drew his knife, and held it to the man's throat. "Alright buddy," he said with a smile. "Talk."

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Stupid River Raiders! They're no match for Clyde! Anyway, Clyde seems to have made a friend on Rainyv. Will she be able to help him track down and eliminate Martin? Please leave reviews! Update coming soon!


	4. My Mission

A/N: Alright, we're up to four unique readers now! Please spread the word around about this story! I need all the support I can get! Anyway…

Heh, looks like you guys liked the "Angel of God" idea. It seems like a decent excuse when you're a PGF agent on a foreign world, no? Anyhoo, after whipping the crap out of the stupid River Raiders and having his life saved by a mysterious teenage samurai girl, Clyde decided to have a little chat with the only survivor from the inn battle to find out where Martin is hiding out. How will Nozomi play into this?

Response time:

The help I was offered: Thanks! I always hate it when I make mistakes like that. It's even more frustrating when I miss them after a re-read. I'll do my best in the future to improve myself.

Also to ChinchillaDragoon: Alright! You're the first to put SO:FAB on their favorites list! Thank you so much! Please spread the word!

Again, thanks for all past reviews.

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Chapter 4: My Mission

_"Here's the deal: tell me where Martin and your other buddies are hiding out and I'll let you live."_

"Y-you mean you'll let me go?"

"Not exactly. I'm gonna turn you over to the local authorities and have them lock you up in a nice, cozy jail cell. How's that sound?"

"What kind of deal is that? No way!"

"Suit yourself, but are you SURE that you wanna end up like your other buddies?"

"…a little less than a day's travel up the river from here, there's a large fort on the west bank of the river. Can't miss it."

"And your boat?"

_  
"Should be anchored just outside the town. That last guy you… killed… was supposed to be guarding it."_

"Anything else that I should know about?"

"…"

"Well?"

"The boss was working on making this weird stuff that exploded when you set it on fire. Not sure what it was."

"I see. Heh, thanks for the info. Keeper, call a guard, would ya?"

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"Absolutely not," said Clyde as he brought one last small crate of supplies onto the ship, given to him by the generous inhabitants of the town. "I can't let you come with me."

Nozomi stomped her sandaled foot furiously, obviously upset with his answer to her request. "W-why not? I want to fight Martin too!"

Clyde set the crate down and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "I don't mean to be rude, but you just don't have the kind of training that it requires to beat someone like Martin. Just leave this to me, and I swear I'll beat him."

Unable to hide her emotions, Nozomi drew her blade and took one step up the boarding ramp. "That's not good enough!" she cried. "I saved your life! All I'm asking you to do is let me come with you!"

Clyde hammered a mast with his fist and turned to the young woman. "I appreciate the fact that you saved my life, please don't get me wrong. I just don't want anyone hurt, okay?"

"I don't care if I'm hurt or even killed!" cried Nozomi as she fell to her knees and sobbed. "M-Martin is a terrible man. It should be my duty to purge him from our lands."

"Nozomi…" said Clyde. He still had some other work to do and didn't want to delay leaving for even a minute longer, figuring Martin would soon catch on to the fact that he was coming. Despite this, he could not take his eyes off of the beautiful samurai that had saved his life. Her resolve was admirable, especially for someone as young as her. Why was someone her age after Martin? She sure was taking his refusal for her to join him hard. Perhaps Martin had done something to her or someone she loved?

"Clyde," started Cynthia through his headset, "is the UP3 the only thing that's stopping you from taking her?"

He shook his head and spoke quietly. "Of course not. Her safety is far more important. A girl with a sword is going to be no match for an off-worlder with any sort of firearm."

"I understand how you feel Clyde. She seems like a sweet person," said Cynthia. "However, well, just look at her. Instead of just sitting by idly while you take care of Martin and his goons, she wants very much to be able to see this through to the end. I'm sure she has her reasons for doing this."

"That doesn't matter," said Clyde. "She-"

"Okay, enough trying to be civil about this," said Cynthia, obviously irritated now by their conversation. "Listen here Clyde, that poor girl is crying her eyes out right now and all you can do is keep saying no? That sucks Clyde. Why don't you just let her come along? She seems to already understand the possible consequences of fighting Martin and is prepared to accept them. She wants to help you Clyde. Who knows? You might need the help. I know you don't want me to bring this up again, but you _were_ almost killed by one of Martin's primitive goons. Has your pride swelled up so much that you refuse to accept help of any kind?"

Cynthia's new tone both surprised and scared Clyde. In the four years since he was first assigned his personal AI, Cynthia, he had never before heard her talk this. You could almost fell the emotion in her synthesized voice. Aside from the bit about his almost getting killed, the rest of her little speech actually moved him. "Cynthia, I…" He closed his eyes. "Man, I hope I don't regret this later."

He opened his eyes and walked to the edge of the ship. "Miss Hikaru?"

Nozomi wiped a few tears from her face with her free hand and looked up at him. "Y-yes?"

"You _do_ understand what could possibly happen once we start fighting Martin, correct?" asked Clyde. "He's a very powerful opponent."

She nodded. "More than you know, Mr. Vasteel. I am prepared to face the consequences of my actions though. As long as I can bring closure to this, I… I…"

He shook his head. "Good enough. Welcome aboard, Nozomi." He turned back to his work, took two steps, and took another look back. "Oh, and just "Clyde" will do."

Nozomi could not have made a more beautiful smile on her face if she tried. "T-thank you Clyde! I promise I won't let you down!" She got to her feet and sheathed her blade. She closed her eyes and spoke quietly to herself as she boarded the ship. "I will avenge you. Just wait."

"Hmm? Did you say something?" asked Clyde.

Her face instantly turned red. She shook her head and said, "N-nothing."

He nodded and pulled up the boarding ramp. "Well then, shall we set off?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm ready whenever you are."

He walked over to the crank that lowered and raised the anchor and began to turn it. "Then we're off! Next stop: Martin's "house"!

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For the first time since he arrived on the planet, the rain stopped and Clyde was able to be the sky above the clouds, revealing a beautiful ocean of stars. He could not help but marvel at their beauty. Sure, he had seen stars from other planets before, but they appeared to be even more beautiful on Rainyv. Perhaps it was something in the atmosphere that made them appear the way they did.

"Wow. It's not very often that we get to see the stars," noted Nozomi. "They're all so pretty."

"Mmm," mumbled Clyde as he sat on an empty crate. "There seems to be something in the air that makes the stars look the way they do."

She turned back from the edge, puzzled. "Something in the air?"

He shook his head. "Ah, nothing."

Thinking nothing of it, she smiled and turned back around.

"So what's the plan, Clyde?" asked Cynthia through his headset. "Any ideas on how to deal with Martin's little fort?"

He spun around as quietly as possible, leaned over a bit and spoke quietly into the headset. "Beats me. I was just gonna play it by ear. I don't suppose you can see anything like a fort on your geographical maps, can you?"

"I already tried that earlier. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything that looked much like a fort. Sorry Clyde," said Cynthia.

"Hmph," grunted Clyde. "I suppose it can't be helped. This might be a little bit more difficult than I first thought." He opened up his traveling pack and pulled out the sleek metal case that he took from his supply crate before he left the crash site. "Guess I'll just have to pick 'em off one at a time." He punched in a few numbers on the outside of the case, releasing the lock. He opened it up, revealing all of the extra parts for his Phase Gun. He first picked up a solid black stock and fitted it at the back end of the pistol. Next came an elongated barrel which he easily screwed onto the end of his current barrel. Then came the scope. After looking through it an applying the necessary range calibrations, he attached it to the top of the gun. Finally, he opened up a tiny panel that revealed a very small numerical keypad and a digital display that read "93 Cells Remaining: Semi-Auto Mode Engaged". He tapped a few keys and the panel briefly displayed "Code Accepted: Longbolt Mode Engaged."

"Rock and roll," Clyde said with a grin.

"What a strange weapon," said Nozomi, much to Clyde's surprise. "What exactly did you do to it?"

"Uh, I was fixing it," said Clyde.

"Oh?" she asked. "What was wrong with it?"

He looked down at his weapon. No wonder she was asking. It looked _completely_ different from what it did before. "It wasn't… firing correctly."

Smiling innocently, she pulled up another nearby crate and sat in front of Clyde. "Can I ask you something Clyde?"

He nodded. "Of course. What's up?"

She took a deep breath. "You and Martin seem so much alike, I mean, the tools you use and clothes you wear, that is. I don't mean to be nosy, but please tell me… what are you and Martin, really? I'm sorry, but I just can't believe your story about being an angel. If you don't want to tell me, I suppose that's fine. I guess I'm just curious."

"What now Clyde?" asked Cynthia. "I'm not sure how to deal with this one."

Clyde's eyes shot open as he lowered his head. "What do you mean, 'you don't know how to deal with this one'? You're supposed to be the genius here!"

"Well… why don't you tell the truth then?" suggested Cynthia.

"Are you nuts?" asked Clyde, obviously agitated. "What about the UP3?"

"Honestly Clyde. Does she look like the kind of person that would make any real use of anything you tell her?" asked Cynthia.

Nozomi tapped Clyde on the shoulder, wondering why Clyde was seemingly talking to himself. "Um, Clyde? Are you ok? Are you talking to yourself?"

Great. She had heard him talking to himself, or rather, to Cynthia. He had two choices now: tell her the truth or claim that he _really _was talking to himself and have her think he was crazy. "Yeah, that'll work _real_ well in the long run," said Clyde to himself. He sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."

He raised his head until his eyes met hers. "Nozomi, can I trust you with a secret? One that you can _never_ tell anyone else? Not even a loved one?"

She nodded. "I swear on my family's name. You can trust me Clyde."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. Here goes… tell me, what's in the sky above us?"

She looked at him strangely. "Huh? The stars, of course."

He nodded. "That's right. I come from beyond the stars. Not just myself, but Martin as well."

The confusion she was experiencing could be easily seen in her eyes. "W-what? Beyond the stars? What do you mean?"

He stood up and walked slowly to the railing of the ship, slinging his converted Phase Gun over his shoulder as he did so. "I mean what I said: I come from beyond the stars. I'm from a planet other than this one."

"Another planet?" This idea just wouldn't sink into Nozomi's mind. Another planet? Did that mean that there were other planets besides Rainyv?

"Mmm. I was born on the moon of a planet called Terra. I came to this planet as a part of my job," said Clyde.

"Job?" asked Nozomi, now more confused than before.

He nodded. "That's right. I work for an organization called the Pangalactic Federation as a UP3 Enforcer. We hunt down people like Martin that bring foreign technology to planets like this and use them for all the wrong reasons."

Still shaking her head, she stood up and walked over to him. "This is so confusing. Why would Martin come here?"

He shrugged. "To play god. That's what everyone like him wants to do. It's easy to accomplish when you have technology that looks like something only the gods would use." He took his rifle off his shoulder, held it in both hands, and held it out to her. "It's just a weapon. A tool from another world. Just because myself or Martin can use it, it doesn't make him or me and more special than you."

She looked at the rifle for a moment, then back up at him. "Really?"

"Of course," he replied. "Take it. I'll show you."

Cautiously, she took the rifle but nearly dropped it as she did so. "Oh my! This is heavy!"

He couldn't help but laugh. He felt that he should've known better than to give a weapon that heavy to such a relatively frail looking girl. "Haha, easy there. Here." He stood behind her to her right side and positioned his arms below hers. "Now then, hold it like this… that's right. Put your finger on the trigger and-"

"Trigger? You mean this thing?" asked Sylvia as she tapped on the appropriate part with her finger.

"That's right," said Clyde. "Now… brace yourself and pull the trigger."

Unsure of what was going to happen, she closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. From the rifle erupted a large bolt of powerful energy that struck a decent-sized rock close to the shoreline, destroying it completely. The recoil from the powerful shot propelled her light body into Clyde's. "W-wow. I guess anyone can do that."

"Heh," said Clyde with a smirk. He took the rifle from her and slung it back over his shoulder. "It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it's a great weapon."

"Hey!" yelled Cynthia through his headset. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Oh right! Sorry!" said Clyde apologetically. "Nozomi, I want to introduce you to my partner, Cynthia."

Nozomi looked all around her but saw no one. Confused, she asked, "Where? I don't see anyone else."

Clyde smiled and pulled the earpiece from his quad-scanner. Once done, he pulled the scanner from his pocket, opened it up, and held it up to Nozomi. "This is Cynthia, a, well… how to explain this… a man-made person. Cynthia, this is Nozomi Hikaru."

"Hello Nozomi!" said Cynthia cheerfully. "I am pleased to meet you!"

Nozomi fells backwards in complete surprise when she heard Cynthia speak for the first time. "I-it spoke!"

"Please don't be alarmed. I know I may seem strange, but I can think and talk just like you," said Cynthia in an attempt to calm down Nozomi. "I want to thank you personally for saving Clyde's life back in town. I really appreciate it."

Now more curious than frightened, Nozomi stood back up and inched closer to the quad-scanner. She touched the screen and noticed that nothing happened. "Y-you really are in there, aren't you?"

"Sure am, Miss Hikaru," replied Cynthia.

Cynthia blushed and offered a bow. "Um, just Nozomi will do C-cynthia."

Clyde left the scanner open and set it on the crate he once sat on. "Once you get to know Cynthia, you'll find that she's really fun to talk with."

"Why thank you Clyde," said Cynthia. "I appreciate that."

He turned back to Nozomi and observed the moon's light reflecting off of her beautiful pale-blue eyes. Like this, she looked absolutely stunning. "Too bad she's not a little older," said Clyde to himself, half-jokingly.

She began to blush when she saw him staring at her. "I-is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Forgive me. Don't take this the wrong way, but you look very lovely."

She blushed even more fiercely and turned away. "T-thank you very much."

He smiled. "The pleasure is mine. Speaking of which, what's a girl like you doing chasing after someone like Martin? I don't mean to be rude, but, aside from being too young, you don't look like the warrior-type to me."

She lowered her head and walked back to the railing of the ship. "Nozomi? Are you ok?" ask Clyde, a bit concerned.

Nozomi sighed and looked up at the night sky. "About six months ago, a man named Martin appeared in our lands. He began making all these ridiculous claims that he was a god and demanded a number of things. Everyone ignored him initially… but not for long."

Clyde made his way over to the railing, leaned against it, and looked at his new friend. "What happened?"

She continued. "Unhappy with how the people responded to him, he went on a wild spree of violent crimes. He robbed and murdered several dozen people." She held herself tightly and shivered slightly. "He even raped many of the women he came across. He… he almost got me too."

Clyde couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of the UP3 violators he had eliminated in the past were all bad men, but this man seemed far more evil than the rest. He was almost afraid to ask what happened to her, but felt that, even if he didn't ask, she would tell him anyway. If nothing else, just to get it off of her chest. "What happened?"

A tear fell from her eye and hit the water of the river. "The grandson of my adoptive grandfather, or my brother, as I called him, stepped in and tried to fight off Martin. He… he demanded that Martin leave me alone and… and…" She couldn't take it anymore. She began to sob uncontrollably as she sank to her knees. Clyde quickly went down to his knees as well. "Martin… he… used a strange explosion of light that engulfed my 'brother'. When the light subsided, there was no trace of my 'brother' ever being there. He… he died to save me!" Unable to get a hold of herself, she threw her arms around Clyde and cried on his shoulder.

Clyde felt completely powerless. What could he do? Here was this poor girl, crying her heart out, and he couldn't say a damn thing to help her. He wrapped his arms around her as he tried to think of what to say. "I'm so sorry Nozomi. Your 'brother' must have been a brave young man." He closed his eyes and lowered his voice. "I swear to you Nozomi that Martin will pay for his crimes. This isn't just a job anymore. This guy has gone way too far."

"Clyde's right," said Cynthia. "I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll endeavor to do as much as I can for you two as you fight Martin. We're here for you Nozomi."

She looked at Clyde with her pain-filled eyes. "Clyde, Cynthia… thank you. I haven't even known you for very long, but you're already willing to risk your lives to rid us of this man, no, this demon. How can I ever repay you?"

Clyde waved his hand. "You don't have to. I'm doing this of my own free will. I'll make him wish he never tried to hurt you or anyone else on this planet.

They both stood up. She sniffled once, smiled, and hugged him again. "Thank you Clyde. You're already a hero to us all."

Not far from the back of the boat, something below the water sent bubbles to the surface.

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Wow. Martin sure is an evil bastard, huh? Now that the two have exchanged their reasons for wanting to battle Martin, all they can do now is wait. But what's behind the ship?

Please leave reviews! Thanks in advance!


	5. Beneath the Current

A/N: w00t! Got plenty of unique readers now! Thank you so much everyone, and keep spreading the word!

Clyde, through Nozomi, has learned far more about the atrocities caused by Martin than he wanted too hear. Because of this, he wants to treat the elimination of Martin as "more than just a job". His and Nozomi's levels of courage and determination are high, but will it be high enough to beat Martin and his gang of thugs? And what the heck is underneath the water?

Respond to the readers:

To those who given so much praise so far: Thank you so much! It's for readers like y'all that I keep trying to do better!

Concerning the originality of SO: FAB: Now that y'all mention it, I don't think I've ever seen any other original fics for SO that didn't have some sort of tie to one of the other games. It's a real shame when you think about just how much there is to play with in the imagination department of SO. Anyone who has played SO3 has surely at least flipped through the in-game dictionary at one point or another. This is a _wonderful_ source for SO information and, as such, can serve as fuel for any number of original SO fics. I know it helped me out. Anyway, I am _serious_ when I say that this is my grand project. I'm hoping for 100+ chapters. This will be, more or less, a novel. Perhaps a short one, but a novel nonetheless.

Oh, by the way, if anyone was curious, SO: FAB takes place in SD 873, 101 years after the events of SO3. I don't believe I ever mentioned that.

Also, I found out something interesting. Just for kicks, I looked up the meanings for Nozomi Hikaru's name. Surprisingly, Nozomi mean "wish; hope; desire" and Hikaru means "to shine; to glitter; to be bright". One way to twist this around would be to make her name mean "Shining Hope"… the last hope for her people. Creepy, huh? Man, I'm good.

Anyway, on with the show!

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Chapter 5: Beneath the Current

Clyde and Nozomi broke apart from their embrace when they heard what appeared to be the sound of several dozen bubbles popping. They looked around in their immediate area but saw nothing.

"Did you hear that too?" asked Cynthia from her crate.

Clyde nodded. "Yeah. Keep quiet for a sec."

Nozomi bent her knees and placed her right hand on the hilt of her blade. "Something's following us. Stay on your guard."

Clyde nodded and began to slowly unscrew the barrel extension off of his phase gun. "Any idea what it is?" he whispered.

She shook her head and spun quietly one-hundred eighty degrees on one sandaled-foot. "I'm not sure. I'm not very familiar with river-based monsters."

Clyde's eyes shot open when he heard this, He ceased work on his gun as he turned to Nozomi. "Wait… monsters?"

She nodded. "Yes. What's wrong? Monsters a fairly common part of nature, right?"

Monsters. He HATED monsters, especially ones that he wasn't familiar with. Yet, here was Nozomi, acting like nothing was terribly wrong. 'A fairly common part of nature'? He would've called her crazy, but he had to remember that, on a world such as Rainyv, monsters may very well be common. What seems weird to him was in fact very ordinary to Nozomi. Still…

He shook his head and tapped in a few keys on the hidden keypad imbedded into the handle of his phase gun. "Bah. Not where I'm from." He punched in the final key and watched as the display read, "Code accepted: Full-Auto mode engaged." Satisfied with the new configuration, he brought the stock of the gun to his shoulder and prepared for the worst.

He didn't have to wait long. A moment after he finished modifying his weapon, a very large tentacle covered with suction cups slammed onto the deck. Hitting no one, it retracted itself back into the water.

"W-whoa!" yelled Clyde as he took a few steps back. "What in the hell was that!"

Nozomi gritted her teeth and held the handle of her blade more tightly than before. "River Kraken."

Clyde frantically waved his gun around. "Like I asked before, what the hell was that!"

Nozomi began to step backwards towards as he eyes darted between her left and right side. "A rare, almost unique aquatic monster with over a dozen giant tentacles and an enormous head. Its strength is enormous and has been known to bring down entire river vessels by itself."

Clyde closed his eyes and shivered. "Just what I wanted to hear."

"Look out Clyde!" cried Cynthia as another tentacle rose from the water and smashed its way onboard. Lacking the speed necessary to dodge such an attack, Clyde fell victim to the tentacle's immense strength and was struck hard in the ribs by it.

"Gah!" yelled Clyde in pain as he hit the floor of the ship.

The tentacle slowly began to wrap itself around Clyde's legs. Before it could get very far in the process however, it was sliced off by a well-aimed blow from Nozomi's blade. What was left of the tentacle slithered back into the water with great haste. What sounded like a great cry of pain could be heard from underneath the water.

"Clyde! Are you ok?" asked Nozomi without looking at him. She held her blade tightly with both hands as she kept turning her entire body left, then right in a continuous cycle.

Clyde sat up, river water dripping down his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just watch out for yourself!"

"Clyde," said Cynthia. "This may be a bad time to bring this up, but there's something strange about that sword she's using."

Clyde stood to his full height and slowly paced around the deck. "It'll have to wait Cyn- oh crap! Look out Nozomi!"

At the front of the ship appeared three more tentacles, reared back and ready to strike. Clyde stepped in front of Nozomi and braced the phase gun against his shoulder. "Stand back and watch! Eat this!" Clyde held down on the trigger and let loose a large spray of phase bullets at the grouping of tentacles, driving them further and further off the ship as each bullet struck. Finally, this group of tentacles retracted themselves and retreated back into the sea, but not before Clyde had expended thirty rounds into them. "Hahaha! How do ya like that, punk?"

Clyde ran to the front of the ship and pointed his phase gun at the water beneath him. "Oh no you don't! I'm not done with you yet!" he yelled as held down the trigger once again, releasing another long spray of phase bullets. "Hit me in the frickin' ribs, will ya!"

Clyde stopped firing for a moment and continued to scan the water. During his latest barrage of fire, he had not heard another cry of pain or anything else of the sort. Rumbling could still be heard underneath the ship, leaving Clyde with little doubt that the monster was still alive. "Damnit. Where did he go?" he said as he marched back to the middle of the deck.

He didn't have to wait long for his response. Two tentacles clung onto the back of the ship. Following these was the gigantic head of the Kraken. Its head, shaped almost like a bullet, was surrounded by loose flaps of flesh that fluttered slightly as the boat continued to make its way down the river. It had great, yellow eyes that had a kind of dark shine to him, making the Kraken look almost evil. Letting loose a mighty roar, it exposed a large, perfectly circular mouth filled on all sides with incisor-like teeth. Finally, from either side of the ship appeared another tentacle, both situated not far from Nozomi. Just as before, they seemed poised to strike.

"Nozomi! Look out!" yelled Clyde.

Both tentacles made their move at the same time. The one coming from the left was dodged in the nick of time and was promptly sliced off. However, she was not quite as lucky in dodging the second one, for it struck her cleanly in the back, knocking her to the deck as it did so. Just as it tried to do before with Clyde, it wrapped itself around Nozomi's body and began dragging her across the deck and towards the gaping mouth of the beast.

"Clyde! Help me!" screamed Nozomi is utter horror. She tried to struggle, but made no progress what-so-ever. She was simply too weak to put up any sort of resistance to a creature as powerful as the Kraken. What made it worse was that the handle of her blade was being crushed against her hand, causing her additional pain.

Clyde immediately leapt into action. Dropping his phase gun, he instead brandished his knife and activated the laser edge on it. He dashed over to Nozomi and plunged the knife deep into a part of the tentacle that was not wrapped around her. A very dark red substance came seeping out of the wound, looking more like oil than actual blood. The smell of burning Kraken flesh caused by the laser edge was nauseating. Despite its cries of pain, the Kraken refused to let go of the defense-less Nozomi. Realizing this, Clyde plunged the blade twice more into slightly different spots on the tentacle. Finally, the tentacle unwrapped itself from Nozomi and retreated back into the sea.

"Nozomi, are you ok?" asked Clyde as he helped her to her feet.

She wearily nodded her head. "I-I think I'll be okay, but we have to stop that monster! None of my attacks are powerful enough to hurt the head though."

Clyde watched as two more tentacles made their way on deck. "Feh. Will this ever end?" He reached down to his belt and unattached one of his AM grenades. "I think I can get him with this, but I'll have to find some to get it into his mouth or something. Otherwise, it'll just bounce off that cavernous skull of his."

Nozomi brandished her blade once again and stepped in front of Clyde. "Leave that to me! I'll blind the Kraken so you can get close to it!"

Clyde looked at her, puzzled. "How?"

She didn't answer him. She closed her eyes and began to twirl her blade in front of herself. On the blade, Clyde could see what appeared to be glowing symbological markings. "Whoa, what the-"

She opened her eyes and pointed the tip of the blade at the Kraken. "Shining Light!" From this blade erupted a great flash of light that Clyde thought for sure would blind him. As it turned out, it proved to be only harmful to the Kraken. In fact, the light was rather soothing to not only his eyes but his entire body. The Kraken reeled back in pain as it tightly closed its eyes, unable to see now.

"Ok Clyde!" yelled Nozomi. "Do it!"

Clyde shook his head, remembering that he had a task to accomplish now. "R-right! Here goes nothin'!"

He readied his knife once more and dashed down the deck towards the head of the Kraken. Once close enough, he leapt onto its head and plunged his knife as deeply as he could into it. This attack wasn't meant so much to cause any damage to the Kraken, but to instead give him something to hold onto as he carried out his part of the plan, much like a climbing spike. As the Kraken thrashed about, Clyde held onto his knife as tightly as he could with his left hand as he brought the grenade to his mouth. He plucked out the pin with his teeth and spit it into the water. "Open wide!" yelled Clyde as he tossed the grenade into the gaping maw of the aquatic beast. Now all he had to do was get away, and he only had seconds to act before he too would be vaporized by the explosive. Holding onto the knife with both hands, he used both of his legs to deliver a vicious kick to the beast's head, sending himself flying off of the Kraken in a back flip-like motion. At the very moment that he landed on the deck, the Kraken's head exploded into a very gooey mess of sinew and bone. If it weren't an AM explosive, the mess would've been even worse. Clyde was thankful for that. The remains of the Kraken, including the tentacles, slid off the boat and sank to the bottom of the river.

He smirked. "Good guys: 1, Stupid Kraken: 0" he whispered to himself.

An excited Nozomi ran over to Clyde and knelt down next to him. "That was amazing Clyde! You- oh my!" It was then that Nozomi noticed what appeared to be a very nasty bruise on the back of Clyde's neck. "You're hurt!"

Clyde felt for the bruise on the back of his neck. "Ah, its nothing. Besides, you're not looking much better yourself." He pointed to two bruises that had formed on her right arm during the fight.

At the same exact time, they reached for each other's wounds. "Here, let me-" they both said at once. "…heal…you." Their eyes locked for a moment before an obviously embarrassed Nozomi looked slightly away. A soft, blue light formed around their hands as the bruises slowly began to fade away. Once the healing was finished, they retracted their hands.

"Thanks," "T-thank you," said Clyde and an even more embarrassed Nozomi, respectively, at the same time.

A long moment of silence followed. Unable to take this awkward silence, Clyde decided to break it by saying, "I see that you can use Symbology. How di-"

"Symbology?" asked Nozomi. "You mean magic?"

Magic… so that was what the people of Rainyv called it. He had heard of it referred to before as Runology and the Federation once called it Heraldry. However, never before had he heard it called 'Magic'. When most people thought of the word 'magic', most people thought of magicians pulling rabbits out of their hats or the kind of force wielded by the heroes of countless fantasy novels. He brought a hand to the few symbols that had been inscribed just below the collar-bone of his neck, normally unseen because of his clothes, and rubbed them.

"That's your word for it?" asked Clyde. "In the Federation, we call it 'Symbology'. Your 'Magic' makes use of special symbols on your body, correct?"

She held her hand out and shook it from side to side. "Yes and no."

"Yes and no?" asked Clyde.

She pulled back the loose sleeve of her right arm and turned her wrist upward toward Clyde. "See, these are the special runes that allow me to use my personal array of magic spells." She pointed to the rune closest to the bottom of her hand. "This is the rune that allowed me to use healing magic on you. However, this is not the only source of my magic."

She unsheathed her blade, allowing a dazzling ray of moonlight to reflect off the surface of the smooth side. The unsheathing caused Clyde to feel a bit light-headed. At one point, he could've sworn he heard someone whispering from very far away. He shook his head and fixed his attention once again on Nozomi.

"This is Reisame," she started, "In Uzbeijin, the native tongue of my people, it means, "Spiritual Rain". It has been passed down in my adoptive grandpa's family for generations and is said to be the most powerful item on our planet, Rainyv. My brother was next in line to receive it…"

She paused for a moment and looked down at Reisame. Clyde laid a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. She took a deep breath and continued. "…a-after he died, grandpa passed Reisame to me, even though I was only his adopted granddaughter. He passed it on to me in hopes that I would be able to defeat Martin with it."

"Nozomi…" said Clyde, unsure of how to respond.

She shook her head. "Anyway, from Reisame flows a special kind of magic that requires no runes of any sort. With this blade, I can bend both the forces of light and water to my will. It is a holy weapon that is said to be one half of a legendary pair of swords."

Clyde brought his hand to his chin. "So there's another sword like Reisame?"

"Yes," replied Nozomi. "However, the two blades are also completely different. Herufaia, or "Hellfire" is the complete opposite of Reisame. It is said to be a dark weapon that gives its bearer complete control over both fire and darkness. No one knows that has become of Herufaia though. Supposedly, it's been missing for six-hundred years."

Clyde closed his eyes. "Reisame and Herufaia, huh?" He smiled. "I guess Cynthia was right about your sword." His eyes shot open. Cynthia! Where was she? He hadn't heard from her since the beginning of the battle against the Kraken. He looked over to her crate, but the communicator that she had been uploaded into was nowhere to be seen.

"Cynthia!" yelled Clyde. "Where are you?"

"In the water, you dolt!" yelled back a very aggravated Cynthia.

Both Nozomi and Clyde rushed to the back of the ship and couldn't help but laugh when they saw the (thankfully) water-proof communicator bobbing in the water. "Hey Cynthia! Going for a little swim?" asked Clyde. Nozomi giggled.

"Ha ha ha," laughed Cynthia sarcastically. "I hope you two are enjoying this, because I sure's hell am not! Get me out of here Clyde! I'm an AI, not a swimmer!"

"Heh. Chill out Cynthia. I'm coming," said Clyde as he began to slide off his PGF jacket. He was prepared to dive in when Nozomi placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave it to me, Clyde," said Nozomi. I'll get her out."

Not questioning her ways, Clyde stepped back and watched. She drew her blade once again and, tip of the blade on the deck, she slowly turned a circle with it. Once the circle was complete, she swung the blade upward in a large arc and yelled, "Geyser!" With this, an explosion of water coming from underneath Cynthia launched her up into the air and onto the ship where Clyde caught her.

"Nice catch, Clyde," said Cynthia. "Still, it would've been nice to not get thrown into the water in the first place!"

Clyde rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." He slipped back on his jacket and stuck Cynthia into one of the inner pockets. "Well, quite an exciting night so far, eh?" He smiled and turned to Nozomi. "You better get a few hours sleep before we get there. I'll stay up and keep watch."

"Are you sure?" asked Nozomi.

He nodded. "Positive."

She nodded back. "All right then. Good night Clyde." She took a blanket out of the pack she had brought with her on the ship, laid it out, and laid down on it herself.

He smiled. "Good night Nozomi." He picked up the phase gun he had dropped earlier, sat down on a crate, and began to work on it once again as he anxiously awaited the arrival of their ship at Martin's hideout.

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With the Kraken defeated, Clyde, Nozomi, and Cynthia can do naught but wait as their ship slowly drifts down the river. What lies in wait for them at Martin's fort?

This chapter was a little longer than usual (yay!) so I hope you liked it. Thank you again for all the reviews and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!

Also, anyone out there looking for a little bit of Star Ocean humor? Then please R&R my one-shot humor fic based off of SO1 called "Cius Versus Alcohol"! What do you get when you mix Cius with copious amounts of alcohol? Loads of fun, even if you've never played SO1! Please check it out!


	6. Keeping in Touch

A/N: Aww, I didn't get that many reviews this time. How sad  Please review! I love to hear from my readers! Anyway…

After the unforeseen battle with the River Kraken, Nozomi and Clyde try to get a little R&R while their boat makes its way toward Martin's fort. While Nozomi takes a nap, Clyde takes some time to get in touch with some close friends of his. No action in this chapter, but we'll at least introduce a few more characters, eh?

On with the show!

From now on, after a strange word a word that will be defined at the end of the chapter

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Chapter 6: Keeping in Touch

Clyde sat quietly on the rainy deck of their ship, thinking about nothing in particular. He was a bit tired, but it was nothing a little Artstim couldn't fix. Somebody had to stay up and keep watch, and he wasn't about to let someone like Nozomi do it. It wasn't that he felt that she couldn't do the job right; rather, he felt that she would be more in need of rest than he would.

He looked over at the sleeping samurai girl and smiled. "Girl's just full of surprises. Still can't believe someone as young as her is going after Martin. Her brother really must've been something."

He shivered. "Bah. That cold, rainy wind's kicking up." He leaned over to his pack and began to rummage through it. From it, he produced a small, emergency blanket. He was about to wrap it around himself when he noticed that Nozomi was shivering slightly.

"Crap," he said with a grin. He threw the blanket on top of her instead and went back to sitting back against the main mast of the ship. To partially make up for his now lost blanket, he zipped his own jacket, sealing some of warmth his body was producing in his jacket.

Clyde closed his eyes but they didn't stay that way for long, for, through his headset, he heard a few low-tone beeps. "Eh? What is it Cynthia?"

In a very cheery tone, she said, "You have an incoming message from Carmaine onboard the Apollo. Shall I patch him through?"

Clyde grinned. "'Course. I haven't talked to him in a few days." He pulled out his communicator, flipped up the screen, and awaited the holo-feed from Carmaine.

On the video screen of the communicator appeared a handsome young man with short, blonde and a pair of expensive-looking military-issue glasses specially made to accommodate not only the two eyes to either side of his nose but the eye in the middle of his forehead as well. He was Carmaine Schroeder, a Tetrageniot and seventeen-year friend of Clyde. His black uniform and special insignia on his left chest indicated that he was the communications officer of the Apollo. He adjusted his glasses, smiled, and began to speak.

"Clyde, long time no speak!" said Carmaine. "Heard about everything that's happened to you so far from the Chief. Everything okay man?"

Clyde nodded. "Just peachy."

Carmaine shook his head and laughed. "Just as sarcastic as ever. I'll take that as a yes."

Clyde closed his eyes and smirked. "Heh." A short pause followed. "So Carmaine, how's the wife doing?"

"Melody?" asked Carmaine. "Fine as usual. She asked me to say 'hello' and 'be careful' to you from her."

Clyde nodded. "That's good to hear. Tell her I said 'thanks'."

"Will do," said Carmaine. Another short pause followed. "Which reminds me Clyde, Melody says that Sheila hasn't heard from you in a couple of days. That's not like you to not write her back in so long. What gives, man?"

Clyde opened his eyes and looked up at the clear night sky and into the endless ocean of stars above. "Sheila…" He shook his head and looked back at his screen. "I wrote her a few days ago, just before I crashed on the planet. I've just been awaiting a response."

Carmaine shook his head. "They say that it's unwise to keep a good woman waiting, Clyde. I don't understand why you two don't get back together. That 'compromise' you two made sucks. Why don't you two start goin' out again?"

This had been a recurring question between Carmaine and Clyde for the past six years and, for the majority of that time, Clyde had no way to come back and get Carmaine to drop the subject. However, recently, he developed a similar touchy question that would force Carmaine into silence.

He half-grinned. "I'll answer that when you tell me why you and Melody haven't had a kid yet."

Carmaine threw up his arms and sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. Just looking out for ya man."

"I know Carmaine," said Clyde. "Maybe someday, I'll tell you what's goin' on."

Carmaine nodded. "Same here."

Clyde's headset beeped twice again. "Clyde, you have an incoming holo-mail."

Clyde cocked an eyebrow. "From?"

"Who else?" said Cynthia. "Sheila, of course."

Clyde's heart stopped for a second when he heard Sheila's name. He smiled. "Thanks Sheila. Lemme finish talking to Carmaine and then-"

"Sheila, eh?" said Carmaine with a chuckle. "'They say it's unwise to keep a woman waiting' Clyde. Remember? I'll go ahead and let you get to your mail. We'll chat later, okay?"

Clyde nodded. "Right. Take it easy, Carmaine."

He nodded back. "Same to you, Clyde. Be careful out there." With the, the holo-feed to Carmaine was cut, leaving Clyde alone once again.

For the next few moments, Clyde just stared blankly at his communicator. He was always glad to receive any sort of message from Sheila, but was always kind of nervous when it came to opening said messages. He wasn't sure why he did this. His heart always skipped a beat when he heard her name. Long ago, when Clyde first entered the service as a PGF Agent, Clyde and Sheila had mutually agreed to break up with one another and look for other people since their great distance would almost surely create a problem for their relationship. However, despite the breakup, their relationship seemed to only strengthen with every passing day. In both of their hearts, they knew that they didn't want to move on, but tried to put up a front meant to make everyone else think that they were both looking for other people to be with. However, everyone except for Sheila and Clyde saw through this. Clyde had often thought about asking her out again but was afraid of what would come of it. Also, he really did believe that his constantly being away from home would do nothing but serve as a problem to any new relationship. He felt she shouldn't have to wait on him, no matter how much they cared for each other.

He shook his head. This wasn't a good time to think about such things. He had a mission to accomplish. He would take the time to watch Sheila's message, reply back, and then get back to making any final preparations for the coming battle. "Cynthia, open up Sheila's message, please."

"Certainly Clyde," she replied. "One moment please."

The next few seconds were torturous for Clyde. He couldn't wait to hear from Sheila. No matter what kind of mission he was on, she would always find some way to brighten his day and make him smile. He figured that now would be no exception. A single beep rang through Clyde's headset and he immediately turned to the holo-screen.

On the screen appeared a very beautiful young woman wearing a green karate gi. Her brunette hair was two inches longer than shoulder length and her green eyes shone with both kindness and energy. She was very tall for a woman, standing only an inch shorter than Clyde himself and had a fairly skinny, yet finely muscled frame (A/N: Don't get me wrong. It's not like she's got bulging muscles or anything. She just doesn't look like she has any fat on her what-so-ever, so you can more or less see her muscles even though she's' not very strong). She was fairly busty, but, unlike most females, she did not try to show it off. It was the same everywhere she went. No matter what she wore, she would _never_ allow _any_ cleavage to show. The most distinguishing features on this woman, however, were the fox-like ears on top of her head (thus replacing normal human ears on the side of the head) and the two, bushy tails protruding from her posterior. She was a Foxtail, a human-like race that looks exactly like Terrans except for their tail(s) and ears. She was standing barefoot on a blue mat in what appeared to be the dojo both Clyde and Sheila used to frequent. 

Clyde smiled and sighed. Sheila Marx didn't even have to try and she would always find some way to make Clyde happy. They had been close for ten years now. He often wondered how his life would've turned out if she never came into it.

Sheila smiled at the recording device, cleared her throat, and folded her arms behind her back. "Hi Clyde! How are you? Fine I hope. How's your latest mission coming along? Have you kicked the crap out of him yet?" She giggled and continued on. "Well, I hope this mission is over with soon. You get to come home for a little while after this, right? I can't wait to see you! Neither can Melody and our other friends. _Especially_ 'mom'. Haha, she's always worried sick about you." Her smile weakened a bit as a hint of red came to her cheeks and she looked down. "To tell the truth, I am too. I know you can handle yourself. Heck, you protected me for these past ten years, so I know you can handle yourself. Still…" she shook her head and looked back up. "Ah, sorry. I'm sure you've got enough to worry about without having to worry about what I'm thinking, right? Anyway, I bet you're wondering why I'm at the dojo, aren't you?"

Indeed, Clyde was curious as to why she was there. He knew that she had continued to take classes there even after Clyde had left, but she had never before sent him a message from there before. He wondered what she had in store for him.

She walked up to the recording device, kneeled down and smiled directly into the recorder. "Well, I'm proud to announce that I've earned my first, and last, Qi-gong ring from Master Wallace!"

She reached for the collar of her collar and pulled it down, revealing a green tattoo ring around Sheila's neck. These were the rings of tiny symbols that were found on the necks of all Klausians, except that they had three. Thanks to recent technological advances, these rings were able to be reproduced on non-Klausians, but almost all races were never allowed more than one or two rings, simply because just having the rings required a considerable amount of both physical and spiritual strength to support them. Weaker races like Foxtails and Fellpool were only allowed one ring while 'medium strength' races like Terrans and Tetrageniots were allowed two. This was simply a health and safety issue and nothing more. With these rings, just as Klausians do, physical parameters such as strength and speed were increased. In addition, bearers of these rings are able to create varying amounts of kinetic energy, this making the Klausian symbols work in a fashion similar to Symbology.

She stood up and stepped away from the recorder. "Well Clyde, are you proud of me? Now I might be able to handle myself when you're not around. But, ah…" She blushed. "When you're around, you better be there to save me! Ehehe…"

Clyde chuckled. "Of course I will. And yea, I am proud of you."

She shook her head and continued on. "Anyway, I've been working on trying to get the Klausian symbols to work, but I can't seem to do it without Master Wallace's help. However, I've come here today to try it again, while you watch, without the master's help. Are you ready Clyde?"

She turned her right side to the recorder and closed her eyes. She began to breath very slowly as she started to stretch. Sheila knew that this was going to be hard without any sort of assistance from Master Wallace, but she wanted to try anyway. She had hoped that performing 'in front of' Clyde would help a bit.

Her knees bent slightly as she lowered her body little by little. The ring around her neck began to glow as her arms started to move. "Here goes nothin'," she whispered to herself. Opening her eyes as wide as she could, she threw out her arms and bent them at a ninety-degree angle. Throwing his chest upward and forward, she yelled, "Sphere of Might!"

About two feet ahead and above her chest appeared a large sphere of pure kinetic energy. It wasn't nearly as large as a normal Klausian Sphere of Might, but given her relatively low strength, it was indeed surprising to see what she had produced. After burning in existence for about four or five seconds, the sphere vanished, leaving a surprised Sheila in its wake.

"I-I…" She turned to the recorder, her mouth hanging open. A huge smile came to her face as she clasped her hands tog ether and jumped up and down in celebration. "Woo-hoo! I did it Clyde! I really did it!"

He laughed again. "That's my girl. I knew you could do it," he said to himself.

The holo-vid cut out for a second and, when it came back, showed Sheila now back in her room, sitting on the bed in a pair of black, silk pajamas. Her legs and arms were crossed as she continued to talk.

"Whew, I sure am tired after all that," said Sheila to the recorder. "Guess I need a little more practice, eh?" She laughed. "Anyway, 'mom' is already in bed, so I guess it'll be just me saying goodnight to you this time. Hope you don't mind. I'll make sure that she helps with the next message. Well, I guess it's time for me to get some sleep. I lo-" She paused and blushed. Instead of speaking, she instead used her finger to make an 'XOXOXO' in the air. "Sweet dreams Clyde. Please come home soon. I miss you so much." The holo-vid then cut-out.

"End of message," said Cynthia.

Clyde nodded and laid back his head on the mast and closed his eyes. He knew what she was going to say at the end and this only strengthened his need to get home as soon as possible. "Maybe I'm just afraid of commitment," he said in an attempt to understand why he wasn't with her.

"That's probably it," said Cynthia. "She really is a sweet girl, Clyde. With everything you told me that happened between you two, it really is a wonder why you aren't together.

Clyde lowered his head. "Cynthia, prepare to record a holo-vid for me."

He set the communicator on a crate in front of him and faced it towards himself.

"Affirmative. One moment please," she said. A few clicks and beeps were heard as Cynthia prepared to record. "Setup complete. Go ahead Clyde."

Clyde smiled at the communicator and began. "Hi Sheila, it's Clyde. Sorry it's so dark, but it's nighttime where I'm at right now and don't have access to any good lights. Sorry about that. Is mom holding up okay? I'm sorry to constantly worry you guys. Anyway, I had to crash-land on Rainyv a couple of days ago but I came out okay. The Federation is already sending a ship out to rescue me, so don't worry. It'll be here by the time I'm done with my current mission. After that… home. Oh man, I can't wait to get back home and see everyone. Heh… especially you Sheila." He shot the communicator a wink and a thumbs-up. "I'm proud of you for getting your Qi-gong ring. That's really quite an accomplishment! Congratulations on also making that 'Sphere of Might' all by yourself. I knew you could do it! I guess we'll have to spar when we get home. Maybe you'll be protecting me from now on." He laughed. "Anyway, I'm almost at the fort of the guy I'm supposed to get now, so I better get back to my preparations. I'll write you again once it's 'Mission Accomplished'. I'm looking forward to receiving the next letter from you and mom!" He paused for a moment to think of a proper way to end the letter. "Lots of love, Clyde."

"Good job Clyde," said Sheila just after she shut down the recorder.

He nodded, picked up the communicator, and stuffed it back in his pocket. "I gotta get back to work. Unless I'm in the middle of a fight, let me know immediately when you receive a message from Sheila."

"Affirmative Clyde," said Sheila.

With that, he picked up his phase gun once again and worked through the early hours of the morning.

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I know, not a very exciting chapter, I'm sure. However, I hope that all of you enjoyed it all the same. The next chapter will be the initial assault on Martin's fort, so look forward to it! Thanks in advance for any and all reviews!

Star Ocean Dictionary Additions:

Artstim – Name given to special herbal stimulants in a pill form given to Federation troops and agents. Meant to give troopers an artificial boost of energy with no side-effects what-so-ever.

Apollo – The name of the Federation Combat Explorer that Clyde and a number of other PGF Agents are stationed on. Carmaine serves as the communications officer aboard this vessel.

Melody – Tetrageniot wife of Carmaine. Long time friend of both Clyde and Sheila. Serves as an MP (Military Police) in Lunaria, Luna (description to come later)

Master Wallace – Klausian that runs the dojo both Clyde and Sheila took classes at. 

Lunaria – capitol of and largest city on Luna, the lone moon of Terra (Earth)


End file.
